


If You'll Stay

by kamwashere, thepurplemu24



Category: Gameboys (Web Series 2020)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, COVID-19, Coronavirus pandemic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It, Gameboys, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Making Up, One Shot, Pre-Canon, Quarantine, Relationship Issues, Romantic Fluff, Short One Shot, Social Media, Texting, cai x gav, caireel, finale prediction, pearleen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:41:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26376679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kamwashere/pseuds/kamwashere, https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepurplemu24/pseuds/thepurplemu24
Summary: Cai and Gav are hurting after their argument, but both realise it's time to fight for their relationship before it's too late.This is essentially how I would like the last episode to go.
Relationships: Gavreel Alarcon/Cairo Lazaro
Comments: 11
Kudos: 32





	If You'll Stay

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic! Big thanks to kamwashere for being my beta writer and encouraging me to write this. You're additions are amazing! 
> 
> The title comes from the song 'Stay' by Cueshe

“What do you mean you two had a fight?!” Pearl’s indignant voice makes Gav wince. 

“Well, I may have said something I didn’t mean…” He trails off, still feeling guilty despite it being over three days ago. He really wants to make amends, to beg for forgiveness, but he figures his face is the last thing Cai wants to see right now, not with the stress of them moving away. He’s debating on whether to send him off the airport, but he doesn’t know if that’s still what Cai wants. 

God, what does this mean for them? It’s just a fight, right? That’s normal for couples. 

Isn’t it? 

“What is it, then?”

Gav sighs, then starts telling her about The Argument. Pearl could barely conceal her reactions, and he prepares himself for the call out of his life. When he finishes, she’s sputtering and shaking her head in disappointment. “My God, Gav. I leave you guys alone for a day and this is what happens? I thought we were past the Terrence thing already?”

“I thought so, too! But Cai said Terrence never apologised to him, so he hasn’t properly forgiven him yet.”

Pearl seems to ponder upon it, ‘Well, that’s true. But I thought it was implied.’

“I thought so, too!” He repeats, feeling frustrated all over again. Gav thought he knew everything about Cai by now, but he seems that he was wrong. 

What else could he be wrong about?

‘Pearl, can you talk to him for me?’ He asks desperately.

She looks at him with a mixture of pity, fondness, and annoyance. ‘Gav, I didn’t interfere before, I’m not going to start now. You’re both adults already, just talk,’ She sighs, lines forming on her forehead. Gav feels a little bad for burdening her with this. ‘Boylet is moving away soon, do you really want to end things this way?’

He feels a surge of panic, and he curses loudly, ‘Pearl, gotta go!’

‘OK, babe! Keep me updated, ‘kay?’

‘Yeah. Bye!’

***

“‘We were just talking’ he said, ‘just talking’, ha! And he expects me to just be okay with that? To just be okay with him talking to the guy who tried to break us apart before? The guy who clearly has feelings for him. And then he has the audacity to call me out for talking to you! Can you believe that Gav actually thinks you like me? I think I’d be able to tell if you liked me...” 

Wes chokes on his tea. Cai has been ranting about his fight with Gav for the last 15 minutes and has barely stopped to breathe. He’s quite happy to just sit and let Cai vent for a bit, but now things are awkward. Should he say something? 

He thinks he’s done a pretty good job of hiding his feelings for Cai, but perhaps his twang of hurt as he witnessed how Cai looked at Gav, was visible. He may have feelings for Cai, but he was completely prepared to move on after meeting Gav. Cai’s smile when he looked at Gav, it was the smile he’d always dreamed would be one day directed at him. He doesn’t want to be the reason for the loss of Cai’s smile. 

But how would Cai react if he said something? Would it make things awkward between them? He’d finally rekindled their friendship and they’d become close again. If a close friendship with Cai was the most he could have, he really didn’t want to lose it. But if Cai doesn’t fix things with Gav now… No, now’s not the time to be selfish. He’s got to be honest, for Cai and for Gav. 

“And then he said I was inconsiderate of his feelings! How?! I worked so hard to let go of my fears and insecurities so that I could trust him and open myself up for him. I’ve listened to him, been there for him…”

“Cai!” 

Cai stops ranting, taking the chance to catch his breath. He stops pacing back and forth and looks at Wes. 

“Cai, I err, I need to talk to you.” Wes clutches his mug tightly, and seems to be struggling to make eye contact with Cai. 

Cai slowly makes his way to his chair, and sits in front of his computer, looking at Wes with concern. “What?” He still sounds pretty pissed.

Wes gulps, and carefully puts his mug down at the table. With a deep breath, he looks up at Cai. 

“Now, I’m not saying this because I expect anything back, and you don’t have to say anything. No pressure. I’m only saying this because I think it might help, and I really hate seeing you at odds like this with Gav when you both seemed so happy before and…”

“Wes, Wes calm down. What is it you want to say?” Cai can feel his stomach tighten, sensing where Wes might be going with this. 

Wes scrunches his hands into fists nervously and looks down. 

“Gav’s right. I do. I… I like you.”

Dammit Gav. Why are you always right? Pushing the angry thoughts out of his head, he looks at how uptight his friend looks, and feels a pang of guilt for not noticing Wes’ feelings earlier and speaking so carelessly. Wes must mistake his anger and guilt for something else because he starts talking rapidly again. 

“I know you don’t feel the same and that’s fine, honestly! But I just thought I should say something because…”

“Wes, it’s okay.” 

Wes finally stops, and looks up at him, fear in his eyes. Cai knows how this feels, the fear that your truth will push someone important to you away. 

“Wes, thank you for telling me. I’m sorry for not noticing, I’m sorry for being careless. But it’s okay. I’m not going anywhere.” He bites his lower lip nervously, “You know, I can’t return your feelings, right? I… I really am in love with Gav.”

Wes smiles, “I know, and I really am happy for the two of you. I just hope we could still be friends.”

“Are you kidding me?” He sees Wes freeze, but he smiles reassuringly, “I’m never going to stop being your friend.” He breathes a sigh of relief as he sees the fear drain from Wes’ eyes and be replaced with euphoria. Seeing the happiness on Wes’ face, Cai laughs, knowing that feeling only too well. 

“How do you feel?” 

“Amazing. It feels so good to have finally said that!”

“I know, it’s surprising how much this stuff just eats away at you! And then to finally say it out loud!”

“Thank you SSOB, or I guess I should start calling you Cai. Thank you Cai, for not hating me.” Wes looks away guiltily, “And I’m sorry if I was the reason that you two fought.”

“Hey, I could never hate you. Thank you for telling me how you feel.” Cai sighs, “It’s fine. It was actually a mixture of reasons why we had a fight. I think I was more mad at myself, not Gav. God, I can’t believe I actually said those things to him.”

Wes quickly wipes away the tears in his eyes and clears his throat. 

“Speaking of, I think you need to tell Gav how you feel. But properly this time! No shouting or talking over each other. You need to tell each other how you feel, and you need to listen to each other. I’m sure Gav is feeling just as scared and hurt as you are right now.” 

Cai takes this in, his thoughts going back to the argument. To Gav asking him if he wanted to break up, and Gav hanging up the call. He can’t lose Gav. Not now, not after everything they’ve been through. 

All the anger he’s feeling, it’s not really about Gav anymore. It’s about himself, and for letting his emotions run away with him, for letting assumptions take over, for not trusting Gav and not listening to him. But also, for not fighting for him. They haven’t spoken in days, and what’s he done about it? Nothing. He feels like a fool, just wallowing in his anger while missing Gav at the same time

He looks over at his bed, to where his pillow lies. Gav’s smiling face looking back at him. 

He can’t let Gav go. 

***

Gav lies on his bed, scrolling through the pictures of Cai on his phone. Their first date, their first dance, Cai and that condom! He grabs the pillow from beside him and hugs it tightly. He scrolls through the pictures from the other day; playing on the slide and the seesaw, walking through the maze. 

He stops at the video he took of Cai looking out onto the maze. He looked so at peace, so happy and content. The most relaxed he’d ever seen him. He had well and truly ruined that. He really messed up. Of course Cai would have other friends, and even if Wes liked Cai… maybe Cai had a point. About Terrence. When Terrence did like him, he knew that didn’t change anything for him. He didn’t like Terrence. 

Gav groans into the pillow. What should he do? Has he left it long enough? Should he call Cai? Has he left it too long? Is it too late? Maybe he should message him. 

He opens up their chat and begins typing. 

Hi. — no, too casual.  
Hi baby. — is that too soon?  
Cai? Are you okay? I’m sorry. — I’m sorry, really? Is that your great apology? Or maybe...

Hey, can we talk?

Gav hovers over the send button, his stomach in knots. The screen changes and his ringtone goes off. It’s Cai! Cai’s calling him! 

He sits upright, wiping the tears from his face. Checking his reflection on the screen, he quickly fixes his hair. Okay, I’m ready. 

He clicks accept. Cai’s face fills the screen. Cai’s face lights up as soon as he sees him. He’s never been happier to see Cai’s smiling face. 

“Hey baby.” 

Oh, it’s music to his ears! He thought he’d never hear Cai say those words again! He stands no chance of keeping his cool during this chat. He can already feel his smile reaching his cheeks. . 

“Hi baby. How have you been?’ He looks at Cai with concern, hoping everything has been going okay at home with the move. 

Cai’s smile drops, so does his. 

“Not very good. At first, I was angry at you. I thought maybe you were speaking to Terrence out spite, to make me jealous. I couldn’t understand why you seemed to hate Wes so much...” 

Gav is desperate to cut in, to talk about Terrence, and explain that he didn’t hate Wes, not exactly anyway. But if he interrupted, Pearl would probably slap him. They need to listen to each other. He just needs to listen to Cai, and then afterwards, he can explain his side. 

“... but when you hung up. I… I was so angry at myself. I made a snap judgement, I didn’t mean what I said, and… about Wes. You were right, but it’s okay! He can see that I’m happy with you, and didn’t mean to come between us. We talked about it, and honestly you don’t have to worry, he’s happy to just be friends.” 

Gav is listening, he’s taking in every word and hating himself for making Cai feel like the blame is all on him, again. But he’s lost in Cai, gazing at his eyes so full of worry but also like he’s pleading for Gav to forgive him. But what for? If he can see Cai’s smile and dimples again by the end of this conversation, he can die happy - but hopefully not anytime soon. He wants to spend every day and every night, for as long as possible, with Cai. 

“Cai, it’s okay. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let my insecurities make things difficult with you and Wes. It wasn’t really about his feelings for you, it was because he would see you everyday, and I wouldn’t. He would get to be there for you when you’re sad, or get to spend time with you and laugh with you when you’re happy. I wish I could be physically there for you all the time, and not be just a picture on a screen. I’m scared that when you go, you might… forget me.” 

He thinks back to just after his Grandmother died. How quiet the house was. How empty his life felt, until he caught one of Cai’s livestreams. 

“Gav, I would never forget you! And you’re far more to me than a picture on a screen. You’re everything to me, my friend, my family… my baby.” 

Gav looks up in shock, an intense sense of happiness takes him over. Did he hear that right? 

“No matter how far apart we are, no matter how busy we are and how much harder it will get to talk, you will always be the person I think of and the person I dream of. Gav, just look at how happy you’ve made me. You’ve healed me, that’s not a feeling that can just disappear.” 

“Baby…” Gav coos, “You’re really getting better at this, huh?”

Cai laughs, his eyes sparkling. Gav could never get tired of looking at that sight, just Cai smiling like that, for him. “Only for you, baby.”

Gav mimes swooning, making Cai laugh even harder. 

Everything is right again in the world.

***

“Uh…” Is all Cai could say as he stares at the hilariously similar looks of surprise and mild horror from his boyfriend, Wes, and Terrence.

“Welcome to your Despedida Party, Boylet!” Pearl squeals, totally oblivious to the tense atmosphere of the call. Cai looks in panic at Gav through the call, who returns this with a look of apprehension of his own. 

Pearl looks between the awkward looks on all four guys faces and rolls her eyes, groaning. 

“This is supposed to be a party! You guys need to hurry up and clear the air with each other so we can turn those frowns upside down!” 

Cai looks to Terrence, just seeing his face again makes it hard for him to not feel angry. 

“Cai, this is long overdue, but I’m sorry for pestering you before and manipulating you into distrusting Gav. That was wrong of me, and I acknowledge that I shouldn’t have meddled in your relationship, or intended to continue pursuing Gav even though he wasn’t interested. But most importantly, I apologise for not talking to you sooner. I hurt you, and I hurt what you and Gav have. I take full responsibility for that, and I can understand if you can’t forgive me…” 

Cai looks deep into Terrence’s eyes skeptically. He’s come across too many people who apologise and think a few tears will make it okay, but Terrence seem’s sincere. He appears tense, and he’s looking directly at him, pleadingly. 

He looks over to Gav’s screen, and remembers what Gav said before, about having Terrence to talk to when he wasn’t around, and how Terrence, annoyingly, gave him good relationship advice. Perhaps he should have an open mind and give him the benefit of the doubt; when he moves away, he might not always be on the other end of the phone when Gav needs him. He needs to be able to trust that Terrence has changed, and is becoming a good friend to Gav. 

“Thank you for apologising, and thank you for being there for Gav. I can’t fully forgive you, but I accept your apology, and I’m happy to give you another chance.” 

He looks back at Gav again, who’s beaming at him. How did he manage to go three days without seeing his face? 

“Thank you, Cai.” He looks back at Terrence, and gives him a brief smile and a nod. 

Gav drags his eyes from Cai and directs his attention to Wes. Now it’s his time to make amends. As much as he hates to admit it, Cai needs Wes. He’s moving away from the place he calls home, he’s going to need Wes’ company and he needs to realise that there is a reason Cai likes him. If they’re meant to be together, then even distance won’t keep them apart. It’s time to let go of his insecurities. 

“Hey, Wes. I’m sorry for calling you an Alien-looking Turtle.”

Wes snaps out of his reverie and looks at Gav with a mixture of shock and confusion. 

“Wait, you called me a what?!”

Pearl snaps her hand to her mouth to conceal her snigger, and Cai has a hard time hiding his smile too. 

Oops. The guy needs to lighten up though! There are definitely worse insults out there. 

“Oh, nevermind. Forget I said that,” Wes still looks confused, so Gav just smiles innocently, “But err, anyways, the main point is, I’m sorry for not trusting you, and I thank you for being such a big support to Cai and his family. I really appreciate it, and I feel better knowing that where Cai’s going, at least he has a good friend waiting for him.” 

Wes smiles and nods. 

Gav looks at Cai, who’s mouthing ‘thank you’ at him with the cutest facial expression. He feels that pang of dread again. He didn’t think it would be possible to miss someone this much, especially someone he’s only known for a few months. But, really, it feels like he’s known Cai all his life. He can’t quite figure out how to explain it, but meeting Cai never felt like meeting a stranger, it just felt like meeting the other part of him. 

Pearl interrupts Gav’s thoughts with one of her squeals, bringing him right back to the present. 

“Eeek, thank God for that! Hopefully next time you guys can sort everything out without me!” 

“What would we do without you Pearl?” Cai chuckles

Pearl waves away Cai’s compliment modestly and flicks her hair. 

“Anyways, now that’s over with it’s time to liven things up! Let’s raise our glasses to Cai and get this despedida party started!” 

Cai raises his glass of milk, and the rest of the gang raise their alcoholic drinks. 

“To Cai!” Everyone shouts.

Gav looks lovingly at an embarrassed Cai, and quietly says “To my baby.”

Cai looks directly at him, his face burning up in even more embarrassment. “Gav!” 

Gav laughs. Man, he loves Cai so much. After the initial scowl, Cai smiles at him, making him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Cai is probably going to hate him for this, but he feels in desperate need of a hug from his boyfriend. He puts his glass down, and leans over to grab his Cai pillow. He hugs it tightly. 

He risks a peak at Cai, but he’s not being scowled at, instead, Cai has reached for his own pillow. Gav looks at Cai overjoyed, as Cai hugs and squeezes his pillow to his chest. 

“Love you, baby.” Gav just about manages to make out as Cai buries his face in the pillow. Grinning from ear to ear, and tears in his eyes Gav replies, “I love you too, baby.” 

Cai looks up, his face also filled with a beaming smile and tears in his eyes. 

Pearl watches them both, wide eyed and trying her hardest not to squeal and ruin their moment. Wes and Terrence look away awkwardly, feeling like they’re intruding. As they move their eyes from Cai and Gav, they meet each other. Terrence smiles and makes a show of rolling his eyes, making Wes laugh. 

After a whole minute of Gav and Cai just staring longingly at each other, Pearl rolls her eyes and snaps, “Hello?! We’re still here!’ She claps, making the two lovebirds snap out of their gazes. “Oi, maybe we should just leave Cai and Gav alone tonight!” 

Cai breaks out of his daze and looks at Pearl apologetically. 

“Sorry Pearl, thank you for getting everyone together for me.” 

“No need to thank me! Right, I’m putting the music on before you two start gazing lovingly at each other again and we all feel like third wheels!” She gets out of the frame, making the four of them look at each other in confusion. All of a sudden, upbeat music starts playing and she comes bouncing back on the frame, hips swaying to the beat. They all watch her in bewilderment until she stops and looks at them pointedly, “What are you guys doing just standing there?”

“Um, Pearl…”

“Let’s dance!” 

Pearl flicks her hair back and forth as she jumps to the beat of the music. Gav shrugs and begins body popping to the beat, treating Cai to the odd wink now and again. 

Hesitant at first, Cai sways to the music, but Gav’s infectious smile and confidence makes him laugh, bringing him into the moment. He forgets he’s in his bedroom and starts jumping, as soon as he starts any self-consciousness he had left completely disappears. He feels so happy and free. Gav whoops and join’s Cai and Pearl, pumping his fist into the air. 

Wes bops his head to the music, watching Cai let loose. He smiles sadly and looks away. His eyes meet Terrence again, who looks like he’s feeling just as awkward as he’s feeling. 

Terrence catches Wes looking at him, and lets out a smirk at Wes’ lame head bopping. He starts imitating Wes, making the pair of them laugh. Terrence sways his shoulders to the left, Wes sways to the right. They keep this up, slowly creating their own dance routine. Wes starts clicking his fingers in time with the music, and Terrence soon follows suit. Terrence decides to do a little shimmy towards the screen and then leans back. He looks at Wes, pouting as Wes keeps up with the swaying. Wes laughs, and shimmies in towards the screen. 

Pearl stops jumping for a moment and brushes the hair out of her face. She takes a sip of her drink and watches the guys on the screen. 

Cai and Gav have started dancing with their respective pillows, just when you think they can’t get more adorable. Grinning, she moves her attention to Wes and Terrence, and notices they’re doing some weird shimmy swaying dance together—well, that was unexpected! She thought by inviting Wes and Terrence she wouldn’t feel so much like a third wheel, so much for that plan. Seems she’s a third, or fifth wheel to the two couples now! 

Her smile fades as she watches them, everyone's so cute and happy. She picks up her phone, and sends a quick message to Karleen. 

Wish you were here babe x

Her phone instantly buzzes, and her smile returns, brighter than ever. 

Next time I promise! Can’t wait to meet your friends. I’ll call you as soon as I’m done here. Hugs and kisses xx 

She’s so excited. Soon, she can introduce Karleen to her friends! Even if she could have come to this, maybe it’s better this way, this is Cai’s party afterall. Pushing the feeling of loneliness away, she closes her eyes and imagines she’s in a club with Karleen. It doesn’t take her long to start dancing her heart out again. 

***

Cai lies on his bed, hugging his Gav pillow and looking up to the ceiling with a smile so big he can’t keep his mouth shut, his cheeks starting to hurt.

He’s never felt more alive. If that was how it felt virtually dancing with Gav, he wonders how would it feel to be really dancing with Gav? To be able to hold him close, to have his hand on his waist and the other in his hand. Faces inches apart, eyes only for each other. Maybe the lights would dim and the music would slow, and their foreheads would touch. 

He’s never been much of a romantic, but suddenly all he can do is picture himself with Gav in various romantic situations he’s seen in films and tv. 

All of a sudden, he remembers that he’s leaving. It could be months before he can see Gav in person again, possibly even a year or more. What if he never gets to hold his hand, never gets to hug him properly, never gets to dance with him, or lie next to him, or fall asleep in his arms and wake up to see his face smiling back at him? What if they never get to kiss? 

Cai’s eyes start to sting as his tears begin falling. 

No, not more tears. He’s exhausted from crying. Why can’t things just go right for him for once. Why is it that when he finally finds happiness, and feels more himself with someone than he ever has before, he has to leave? 

—

The last box. Packed and ready to go. London stands back and takes in the mostly empty house. It’s hard to see his home like this, but since their Pa went into hospital, it hasn’t felt like home. He quickly wipes away the few threatening tears and gives his Ma a call. 

‘Hi Ma, the last box is packed, so we should be all good to go.”

London wanders towards Cairo’s room whilst on the phone. It’s getting late so he wants to make sure he’s not still having his party or talking to Gavreel. 

“Did Cairo enjoy his Despedida Party?”

“Yes I think so, I heard lots of laughter so it certainly sounded like he had a good time.” 

Leila smiles, so happy to hear Cairo has found such a good group of friends that can give him so much happiness, especially now with the pandemic. He smiles as well, his brother has been so happy recently. Gav this and Gav that, and he always has a beaming and excited smile on his face. As he reaches Cairo’s door, his smile fades. He can hear sobbing coming from the other side. 

“Ma, I think Cairo’s crying,” he whispers. Leila puts her hand to her heart in concern. London gently pushes the door open, just a crack, so he can check on his brother. Cairo is curled up in a ball, head buried into a cushion with Gavreel’s face on, crying hard. He takes a step forward, intending to go and comfort his brother but stops suddenly as he hears Cairo. 

“Why? Why do I have to leave you Gav? I can’t, I just can’t—” his voice breaks as even more sobs take over. 

London looks at his Ma in shock, he knew this would be hard for Cairo, it’s hard for all of them. They’re all leaving friends behind as they move to a new life, but seeing Cairo like this. He steps back and quietly shuts the door. He walks back into the kitchen, making sure he’s far enough away from Cairo’ door. 

“Ma? Is this right? Is it right to ask Cairo to come with us?” 

Leila looks at the sadness and concern on her son’s face and bites her lip. She’s sat on the edge of the bed at her sister's house, also surrounded by boxes, but she still has one belonging out of the box. She looks at the photo of her late husband, which sits on her bedside table. She remembers how he was with Cairo, encouraging him with his livestreams and supporting his passion for gaming. 

He was always closer to Cairo than she was. What would he think? She remembers the day they heard Cairo was gay. She was so heartbroken that it wasn’t Cairo who had told them, they both knew that if this was the case, Cairo would be hurting. When they couldn’t find Cairo anywhere, he was so determined to find his son and bring him back safely, he ignored all her protests and raced out the door. 

It was so important to him that Cairo knew they accepted him. He wanted Cairo to feel safe and able to be fully himself. She wishes so hard he could be here now, to see how happy Cairo is with his new friends, how much more himself he seems. 

Is this right? To ask her son to move away with her, right when he’s finally found the people who love him and accept him for who he is? Right when he’s found the person he loves? 

***

Gav takes his eyes off the road for a split second to check his watch. He’s got three hours to get to the airport in time to see Cai off at the gates, that’s plenty of time. He can do this. His phone rings, when it’s safe he accepts the call and is greeted by Pearl’s very excited face. She screams. 

Gav laughs, “Hello Pearl.” 

“Where are you? When did you set off?” 

“I’ve been driving for about an hour now, and if I keep good time I’ve got about an hour to spare in case anything goes wrong.” 

“Ooh, I’ve got my fingers and toes crossed for you babe! Hopefully you won’t be late this time.” 

God he hopes so too. The first time he went to see Cai he couldn’t pass the border, the second time his tyre burst and he was late. They say that the third time’s the charm, so hopefully everything will be okay this time. The stakes are too high for anything to go wrong. If he misses Cai at the gate… it doesn’t even bear thinking about. 

—

Cai helps London carry the boxes to the truck. He smiles and waves as a taxi carrying his Ma pulls up. London and Cai walk over and help transfer her boxes to the truck. Once her boxes are loaded and the taxi drives off, Leila takes her son aside to have a chat. 

—

He swears he had enough petrol when he set off! But now the dial is getting dangerously close to the red. Not to worry, he has time and there’s a petrol station not too far from here. 

—

Cairo locks the front door of the house. He steps back, and silently says goodbye to his home. 

***

With a full tank of petrol Gav set’s off again. He’s lost about 30 minutes but that’s fine, it was spare time anyway. He’s still got plenty of time. 

No, no no!! Gav hits a big queue of traffic. He checks his watch again, he needs to arrive at the airport in the next 30 minutes or he might miss Cai! 

He quickly rings Pearl, who answers instantly. What would he do without her? 

“Pearl, I’m stuck in traffic. Can you see if there’s another route I can take?”

“Of course, give me two seconds….” 

Gav starts tapping his fingers against the steering wheel, and anxiously moves his leg up and down. Come on, for once, just for once can’t things just work out smoothly for him? 

“If you can turn around and take your next left there’s another route to the airport. It’s a slightly longer route but looking at the traffic report you’ll be stuck in that for a while.” 

Gav checks the road is safe and carefully moves out of the traffic queue and turns around. 

“How much time have I got?” 

“The route is about 45 minutes to the airport, so you might be slightly late. But you should still catch him! Drive safely!” 

“I will, thanks again Pearl!” 

She hangs up, just leaving him and his anxiety alone in the car. Just focus on the road Gav, keep calm. Cai will wait, he knows you’re coming. It will be fine, you'll make it. I will make it to that airport, I will walk Cai to the gate, and I’m going to study every inch of his face and take in all of him while I can. Everything will be just fine. 

An hour later Gav dashes through the airport entrance, his phone to his ear, persistently calling Cai. 

Where are you baby? Please, please be somewhere? 

He can feel tears beginning to build up, but he hastily wipes them away. He doesn’t have time to deal with tears, he doesn’t have time for anything right now, only Cai. But there’s no answer, Cai isn’t picking up his phone. 

He pushes past people as he tries to get to the notice board. He scans it, looking at all the flights until he finds Cai’s. Beside his flight flashes his worst fear ‘boarding’.  
Gav wipes his hand down his face and shakes his head in disbelief. 

He tries ringing Cai again. Please, please baby pick up! 

Rushed travellers stream and push past him, as he stands still, holding his breath, waiting for Cai to answer. But his phone is switched off, he doesn’t even get to hear Cai’s voice on the answering machine. 

He sits on a chair in the observation room, head in his hands, letting the tears go. 

I’m sorry baby. I’m sorry for letting you down again. 

He looks up briefly, just in time to watch the plane carrying Cai and his family, rise up into the sky. 

Have a safe flight baby, I hope you arrive safely and that Wes is there to meet you and help you settle in. 

***

As Gav drives back home, he thinks back over his time with Cai. He remembers his grumpy face the first time they met. He thinks back over their first pizza date, Cai’s endearing sock puppet apology. The first time they danced together, the time they fell asleep together, oh and that time they virtually travelled the world together. Cai looked so cute in his coat when they were pretending to play in the snow. 

And then when they met in person, the first time Cai called him baby, and when Cai said he loved him too. He thinks back over how comforting it felt to hug Cai. One day he’ll be able to hug him properly, with no plastic in between, and kiss him properly and hold his hand and be able to feel his skin instead of the rubber gloves. 

Yes, keep thinking like that. This is not the end, he will get to see Cai again in person, and one day they will be able to be close to each other and touch each other. He’s waited this long just to meet Cai, he can wait a bit longer. If that’s what it takes. 

As he pulls up on his drive, Pearl calls him. His stomach tightens, he’s not sure if he’s ready to have this conversation. 

“Gav, Gav? What happened?” She looks at his defeated facial expression with concern. Gav’s not sure he can say. He goes to open his mouth to speak, but a wave of emotion rushes over him, so he just shakes his head in response. 

“Oh no! How did you miss him? You should have had a bit of time with him at least! Didn’t he wait for you?” 

Gav grabs his phone and keys and gets out of the car, locking the door behind him.  
All Gav can manage in response to Pearl’s influx of questions is to shake his head. 

“I’m sure as soon as he arrives he’ll give you a call. I know you wanted to see him, but I’m sure you guys will get a chance to meet up again.” 

Gav just keeps walking towards the door, letting Pearl try her best to comfort him. He loves her for trying, but he’s not sure anything could make him feel better right now. Anything, except…

“Cai?” Gav’s eyes widened. 

Pearl stops talking and looks at Gav’s frozen and in shock face.  
“Gav, Gav? What’s happening, is Cai there? Move the camera! What’s going on? Gav, Gav?” 

“Sorry Pearl.” Gav hangs up, cutting Pearl off mid scream, and takes in the scene before him. 

Cai is curled up on his doorstep, surrounded by a few of his boxes, clutching his phone. 

Gav puts on his face mask and gets out the rubber gloves from his pocket. He creeps forward, and bends down, reaching his hand out to gently shake Cai and stir him from his sleep. 

“Baby?” 

Cai begins to stir, he opens his eyes slightly, and breaks into a smile as he sees Gav smiling down at him. 

Cai slowly sits up, feeling a bit groggy. He hardly got any sleep last night, but as soon as he’d reached Gav’s he’d felt so happy and relaxed, knowing everything would be okay, the tiredness had finally taken over and he’d fallen asleep. 

Gav’s crying, feeling so intensely happy that Cai is here, right here in front of him. He can touch him! But then he starts to worry, why is Cai here? What happened? 

“Cai? What-” 

“I’m sorry. I would have called to explain but my phone died last night and with the move I just forgot to charge it. But, I talked to Ma. She could see how unhappy the move was making me, so she said I could stay, if I wanted, and I do! More than anything! So she gave me some money for the taxi, and her London and Paris have gone on, they’ll call me when they get there. I didn’t know where else to go, or where to stay so I just came here. If it’s not okay I can-”

Tears are streaming down Gav’s face, he can’t believe he’s hearing this. Cai, living with him, in his house! 

Cai pushes himself up to his feet and takes a step forward. 

“Gav, is it okay if I stay?” 

“Of course it’s okay!” 

Gav takes a step forward, and they hold each other's hands, both crying with absolute happiness. 

***

“Baby, Pearls calling!” Cai shouts to Gav. Gav comes running into their room with a bowl of snacks and jumps onto their bed. As he lands he kisses Cai on the cheek and grins, very pleased with himself, when Cai scowls at him. As Gav turns towards the laptop to accept the call, Cai kisses him on the cheek. 

Gav looks at Cai in shock, and grins as he see’s Cai’s mischievous expression. 

“You missed!” 

Cai rolls his eyes and quickly leans across to Gav. Gav leans towards Cai and they share a quick kiss. 

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. Oh my god!!!!” 

Cai and Gav jump and turn to look at Pearl screaming on the screen. Cai playfully punches Gav on the arm, 

“You answered the call?”  
“Hey, I didn’t expect you to kiss me, you can’t blame me.” 

“Oi it’s so good to see you both on the same screen!” Pearl exclaims. 

Cai and Gav look at each other and smile warmly. Gav looks down at Cai’s hand and slides his hand into his. Cai squeezes his hand back. He can’t ever imagine getting tired of this, of having Cai by his side. Anyway, Pearl had some news!

Cai and Gav look back at Pearl eagerly.

“What was the news? Are you finally going to tell us about this mysterious love life of yours?” Gav asks. 

Pearl looks up and smirks, struggling to hide her excitement, “maybe…” 

“Can we meet them?” Cai asks. 

Pearl looks back at them, her face bright with happiness, “I thought you’d never ask! Cai, Gav, I’m going to add someone to the call. I would like to introduce you to my girlfriend, Kaleen!”

Cai and Gav lean forward in excitement. 

The screen splits into three and a girl appears on screen. She has short red hair, large round glasses and is waving at the two of them frantically. 

“Hi! I’m Karleen, nice to meet you! Pearl has told me so much about you guys! I’m so happy you got to stay Cai and now you guys are living together! I’m so happy for both of you, you look so cute and happy together!” 

“Don’t they! But they don’t look half as cute together as we do babe! I mean look at you!” Pearl gazes at Karleen on the screen, taking in the fact she's wearing yet another flawless outfit. 

“Look at you though! Looking stunning as always babe!” Karleen tilts her head to the side, smiling widely as Pearl gets embarrassed and struggles for words. 

Cai and Gav look at each other, struggling to contain their laughter.

“I think I’m starting to understand how Pearl felt when we were flirting” Gav chuckles.  
“Flirting, huh? I wasn’t flirting.” Cai crosses his arms across his chest and pokes his tongue out at Gav. Gav sticks his tongue out back at Cai and they burst out laughing. 

Their laughter interrupts Pearl and Karleen who look at Cai and Gav, both laughing and poking their tongues out at each other. Gav moves his hands to Cai’s waist and starts tickling him, making the pair of them laugh even louder. 

“Oi, you see what I have to put up with?” Pearl and Karleen start laughing. 

*** 

Two weeks later: 

Cai and Gav sit in bed, Cai leaning against Gav’s shoulder as they scroll through social media. 

London Lazaro

‘Finally all unpacked and reached the end of our quarantine. Thank you to everyone who’s helped us with the move. We’re all safe and ready to start our next chapter.’ 

Beneath the status is a picture of London and Paris taking a selfie outside their new home. 

Wesley Torres - with Terrence Carreon

‘Having tea with a friend’ 

Beneath is a screenshot of Terrence and Wes on a video chat, both taking a sip of tea from their mugs. 

Pearl Gatdula - with Karleen Gregorio

‘Getting ready for date night! Xx’

Underneath is a short split screen video, Pearl testing out various outfits and turning her hallway into a catwalk. Karleen puts on a denim jacket, checking her hair in the mirror and watches one of Pearl's make-up tutorial videos as she applies some lipstick. 

Cai and Gav smile at the two girls. Gav opens up the comments and writes ‘have a great night ＃pearleen <3’ 

Gav shuts down the laptop and puts it on the bedside table as Cai snuggles down under the blanket. Turning off the lamp, Gav puts his arm around Cai, who turns around to face him. 

“Good night baby” Cai whispers. 

“Sweet dreams baby” Gav kisses Cai on the forehead, and the two hug each other tightly as they fall asleep. 

The End.


End file.
